A Letter to Ruth Zukerman

I’ve been wanting to email you for quite a while and it was when my cousin, Flywheel Chicago manager Heather Whelan, sent me the link to your video about passion for Porsche that I decided I needed to tell you how much you have changed my life.

This January I made a pact with myself to start getting in shape. Less a New Year’s resolution and more of a promise to myself. As a mother of two boys (four and two-years-old) who works full time, there has never been much of a surplus of “me time.” So I started going to the gym and it was mostly about getting to spend time alone, decompress, burn a few calories and feel rejuvenated when all was said and done. It was in February when I decided to take Heather up on her offer to try a Flywheel class. I went and I have honestly never looked back. I am now going 4-5 times a week. I’ve lost 15 pounds, I sleep better, I eat better, and while all of these things are fine and good, the real life change is much bigger than all of that.

I am a better mother. A much, much better mother because of Flywheel. I can go to Michael Wollpert’s class, burn off all my stresses from work, get home and see my boys with new de-stressed eyes. I also have so much more energy to get down at their level, chase them at the park, keep up with them.

I am a better wife. As with many couples who have high-stress careers, my husband and I would sometimes take our stresses out on each other. We would snap at each other instead of laugh together. We became the easiest outlet to unload our stresses and frustrations onto. Now I go to a one hour ride and I walk out excited to see Ian and tell him about my day, excited to schedule a date night or plan something fun for us to do. I can also let go of things so much easier than before.

I am a better professional. This aspect I attribute not only to Flywheel, but to you too, Ruth. As a director for one of the top PR and social media agencies in the country, I am running major accounts for my company and ever since I started at Flywheel, I’ve begun thinking even bigger. I love where I’m at, but I know I can push myself even harder and set higher goals …and damnit, I will reach them! When I’m on the bike, my mind is racing as fast as my legs and I keep thinking of the “what’s next” in my life. I have learned to turn those 45 exhilarating minutes on the bike into a brainstorm about how I want to keep changing my life, keep improving it. And I am.

So again, thank you for making your passion a reality and in turn, creating this amazing place that is changing lives every single day.